Former Mirabel Terminal: Launch of the Call for Tenders

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - May 6, 2014) - As announced at its Annual Public Meeting on May 1, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) will be issuing a public call for tenders for the dismantling of the former Mirabel terminal building. The call for tenders will be published tomorrow via the usual media outlets. Bidders will be given a time limit in which to submit their tenders. All tenders received will be studied by a committee made up of internal specialists as well as external consulting engineers, which will make a recommendation to the ADM management committee. The recommendation to award a contract will then be submitted for the approval of the Board of Directors at its meeting of September 16, 2014, four-and-a-half months from now.

Furthermore, with regard to the trade-fair centre proposal put forward by the Mayor of Mirabel and the Société de gestion Montréal-Mirabel (SOGEMM), ADM wishes to emphasize that it had held several meetings on the subject with interested parties since February. Moreover, at the urgent request of the Mayor and SOGEMM, ADM has offered to assign the building to them for $1 as part of a memorandum of agreement presented and discussed on April 30, 2014; the group has until September 16, 2014, to accept or reject the offer.

It should further be noted that ADM had asked Groupe Altus, an internationally renowned real estate consulting firm, to specifically study the commercial potential of such a project. The experts' conclusion, disclosed during the Annual Public Meeting, was that the project is economically unjustified and that the likelihood of it ever coming to fruition is virtually zero. The Mayor of Mirabel and SOGEMM have received copies of the Groupe Altus study at the April 30 meeting.

ADM also reiterates that it has received numerous proposals in the 10 years since the closing of the Mirabel terminal, including one involving establishment of a trade-fair centre. That particular project was rejected, among other reasons because it would have been largely dependent on future hypothetical government subsidies. In fact, none of the many projects submitted would have been profitable or feasible. ADM believes that from a business standpoint, the only logical solution at this point is to dismantle the terminal building, which has stood vacant for a decade, which is outdated and unsalvageable, and in which too much money (more than $30 million) has already been sunk-so that the underlying land can be redeveloped, creating added value and quality jobs.

About Aéroports de Montréal

A private, not-for-profit and financially independent corporation, Aéroports de Montréal is the local airport authority that has been responsible for the management, operation and development of Montréal-Trudeau and Montréal-Mirabel international airports since 1992. The Corporation employs some 650 people at the two airports.

For more information about Aéroports de Montréal and its activities, visit www.admtl.com.